Review: Pure X - Pleasure

By Kristen Berry

Pleasure is, well, none other than a pleasure-inducing experience courtesy of Pure X with blissful, soaring guitar reverb and distant vocals at a slow-moving pace. It’s instantly soothing, letting you come down easy from the second “Heavy Air” kicks in. The atmosphere is calming and sublime, a collection of reflections as summer fades. Like a lo-fi sibling of Galaxie 500 or even Spacemen 3, the glimmering pop melodies from this Austin, Texas trio are understated with a subdued, stoned vibe. Genres and subgenres tend to be a little problematic and silly, but in this case “dream pop” is actually the perfect way to describe Pleasure as each track lies beneath a constant peaceful, dreamlike haze. It sounds like a long drive home at sunset, with many of the songs like “Dream Over” echoing Brian Wilson’s famous falsetto in the early days of the Beach Boys, only submerged underwater. The basslines are marvelous, particularly in “Twisted Mirror”, “Surface”, and “Dry Ice” for starters, and powerfully roll underneath the smooth guitar reverb and minimalist drumming.

If there’s a complaint to make, it’s that the title track only lasts a minute and a half instead of going on forever, which is vastly preferred. Pleasure can easily sink you into its trance. It’s gorgeous to space out to, and it creates a world you don’t really want to wake up from. Head over to Acéphale and pick this up.

Dry Ice by PURE X